Mick McCarthy has been accused by Arsène Wenger of undermining the credibility of the Premier League as Wolverhampton Wanderers face the possibility of being charged with fielding a weakened side against Manchester United and not "acting in good faith to other clubs".

The Arsenal manager condemned McCarthy's decision to field a reserve team at Old Trafford after his side lost ground on United in the title chase as a result oftonight's last night's 1-1 draw at Burnley. "It's sad but what can I do?" Wenger said. "It's not up to me. We will compete with Manchester United over 37 games instead of 38 this season. This is a problem for the international credibility of the Premier League."

Wenger also criticised the Premier League fixture compilers for scheduling games in a Europa League week. On Saturday Arsenal are at home to a Hull City side who did not play in midweek due to the fact that their fixture against Everton was moved because of the Merseyside club's involvement in the Europa League.

"I think the Premier League has a basic promise to organise the fixtures in a normal way," Wenger said. "The guy who organised the fixtures this season must have come out of a special school, because he is more intelligent than I am. For sure, he has never played football, organising midweek games in a week when you have a Europa League. We have some teams who do not play at all. We play Sunday and Wednesday away and at home on Saturday against Hull, who have not played all week. It is also damaging for Burnley."

McCarthy was pilloried by Wolves supporters on Tuesday night for making 10 outfield changes to the team that won at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, chanting "£42 to watch the reserves" and "Where is our first team?" as United strolled to a 3-0 victory.

Despite taking no action against United when Sir Alex Ferguson made wholesale changes at Hull City on the final day of last season, 10 days before the Champions League final and for a game they won, the Premier League has written to Wolves for an explanation of McCarthy's selection.

Wolves have seven days to respond and, according to a Premier League statement: "Once the observations are received the Board will decide whether any further action is warranted." Should the board decide that Wolves' contravened rule 20, section E ["In every league match each participating club shall field a full-strength team"] or rule 13, section B ["acting in good faith to other clubs and the league"] the matter will then be referred to an independent disciplinary commission.

The Premier League has the authority to deduct points from Wolves, although such a harsh measure appears unlikely. Given that McCarthy's starting XI at Old Trafford had all featured in the Wolves first-team this season, and included six internationals, it could be difficult for the Premier League to disprove the manager's defence that: "I said I would play my best team and that was the fittest, strongest team I could pick."

The club's chief executive, Jez Moxey, has also backed his manager's selection and announced that supporters who felt short-changed at Old Trafford will not be entitled to a refund. "We have a squad system at the club and Mick picked what he thought was the best side for that match," said Moxey. "We have no plans to refund the £42 that they were chanting about, although we do have an empathy with them. We are very disappointed that we lost the game."